Phuket, Thailand

Our day trip in Phuket was much like the tour we took in Vietnam. Basically, if you put the words “scenic cruise” into the tour description, we're there! We had an early start of it and were hustled past the vendors setting up shop on the pier for the 90 minute drive to Phang Nga. After a brief pit stop at the Phang Nga Bay Resort we boarded our open air boat for our cruise. The scenery was similar to that of Halong Bay – steep, forested mountains and islets, including one shaped like a poodle. Our destination: James Bond Island, famous for appearing in the movie The Man With the Golden Gun as the hideaway of Christopher Lee's character. Mum and I re-watched the movie the night before in anticipation, and it was such a thrill to actually go there! I remember being in awe of the scenery when I first saw the movie as a child, and it was even more breathtaking in person than it was on film. As we approached the island we passed rock formations with narrow openings into caves and there were many people in kayaks paddling along and having to lie down to enter the grottos hidden beneath the rocks. It looked like a lot of fun – maybe next time! We were fortunate to be able to pass through one of the larger caves, thus making up for my missed opportunity at the Hole in the Rock in New Zealand. A stop on James Bond Island wasn't part of our itinerary, but that's probably for the best – I wager that shopping at one of the tourist traps that are now a part of the island would have ruined some of the mystique! After we'd drifted around so that everyone had a chance to take pictures from multiple angles, we headed back to the floating village of Panyi. Its inhabitants are the descendents of the sea gypsies who used to be pirates in these waters. Now they depend mainly on tourism for their livelihood. We landed beside a wobbly pontoon dock and made our way through one of the pleasant, clean looking restaurants and into the market area. After a stop outside the local school we were set loose to explore and shop. Half an hour later we headed back to the pier where we lunched at the Phang Nga Bay Resort. We enjoyed a buffet of various Thai delicacies – fried vegetables, basmati rice, green curry fish balls, crab sausage, sweet and sour pork with cashews, and barbecued beef, plus exotic fruits for dessert. On the way back to the ship we had to make the obligatory stop at a high-end jewellery/souvenir shop so that “richy-riches” could be talked into buying another bauble for the “little woman”. Mum and I admired but did not buy – not our style. We prefer the street markets, so upon our return to the pier we explored the many stalls that had been set up near the ship and happily parted with some of our cash!